Category Archives: Geographic Preferences

Florida Coastal School of Law students are invited to reserve their spot now for CFAWL’s upcoming program on professional progress for students and young professionals. This event, Developing Distinction in Women: Progressing as a Professional, Networking, and Staying Safe, Healthy and Sane Along the Way, will be limited to just 100 attendees. Co-hosted by the Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers (CFAWL) and the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA), this event will provide students with a unique opportunity to learn about important tools essential to progressing as a professional, as well as the opportunity to network with powerful women in law and among different disciplines across various fields in Central Florida. The program will feature key speakers and “how-to’s” on professional development and networking, plus interactive workshops on health, safety and mental health for today’s young professional women. Speakers will include local judges and commissioners, as well as leading professionals in medicine, education and law enforcement. This event will take place on Saturday,May 18, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the OCBA Offices (880 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801) Breakfast will be served.There is no cost to attend this event, but seating is limited.To RSVP, please click here.

If you are interested in practicing in the Clearwater/Pinellas County area and want to network and meet potential employers, colleagues and judges, Coastal students have been invited to participate in the 74th Annual Clearwater Bar Oyster Roast as a student volunteer.

The Oyster Roast is an event held annually by the Clearwater Bar Association where local attorneys and judges put aside the adversarial process, “kick off their shoes,” and enjoy food and drinks from local vendors. In addition to being a great time, it can be a unique opportunity for law students to socialize with practicing attorneys and judges.

This year, as they have in the past, they are inviting law students to attend for FREE (yes, free!) if they assist with the cleanup process. There are a limited number of volunteer spots available, so if this is something that you or your organization is interested in participating in, please contact nick@lawyergriffin.com or ryanbresler@tanneygriffithlaw.com as quickly as possible. as the volunteer spots will be given out on a first-come first-serve basis. Please include the following in your email.

Name, address, and phone number;

Your law school;

Are you a student-member of the Clearwater Bar? (We encourage all student-volunteers to sign up for the Clearwater bar Association. There are no membership fees for student-members and this is a terrific way to connect with the local legal community)

Are you available for cleanup on

the night of the Oyster Roast (Saturday, March 23, 2013);

the morning after the Oyster Roast (Sunday, March 24, 2013); or

Both?

They ask that you only offer to volunteer for time slots if you are genuinely able to attend, as they will be depending on your help.

Did you know that over 80% of law students obtain their first post-graduate position through networking contacts?

The Career Services Department recognizes how critical networking is to your success, and to foster your networking abilities, we have launched a networking initiative targeting three key markets – Orlando, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. The program will meet monthly throughout the year to cultivate your networking skills, and you will receive invaluable guidance from career service counselors, as wells as other students, as you work together to prepare a network of contacts in your target market. These efforts will culminate with a networking trip to each city to attend an event sponsored by the Career Services Department with the local bar association. Students who participated in the Networking Clubs last year gained confidence in their networking abilities and learned how to translate those skills into legal experience and job opportunities

Please join us for the next Networking Club Meeting Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 5:15 p.m. in Room 400. Our networking clubs include students interested in developing practices in Atlanta, Orlando or Washington D.C., but the skills we are learning and discussing would benefit all students. Next week’s meeting will focus on Informational Meetings–What they are, how to land them, and how to prepare for them. Please plan on attending and bring a friend!

One of the biggest mistakes law students make when conducting their job search is the failure to research their selected legal market. While there may be many factors that influence whereyou want to practice, a significant factor should bewhether there areopportunities therein the legal field. Unfortunately, however, students often blindly select locales without ever considering what the local job market is like or whether the geographic location is already saturated with attorneys.

To avoid this mistake, you must research your potential markets. One of the best ways to do this is through informational meetings with local practitioners and judges, who are often finely tuned in to the local market. In addition, you might contact the state’s bar association to request any demographics or surveys regarding hiring trends or average salaries.

Researching the market should be one of the first things you do before you even commit to a state’s bar exam, so remember to start early. Make an appointment with a Career Counselor in the Career Services Department to develop your individualized market research plan and ensure that you select the locale with the most potential, which can affect the time it takes to find a job, how hard you have to work for it, and what your compensation will be.

When it’s time to decide where to practice law, don’t limit yourself to major cities. Consider smaller communities where towns may need new attorneys as older lawyers retire. There are many benefits to practicing in a smaller community, not the least of which is the economic benefit. The cost of living may be significantly less than living in the city, and there is certainly a variety of work to do. People in small towns prefer hiring local attorneys instead of hiring attorneys from the city that they must pay to drive out to their town. They want to hire someone they know and with whom they feel comfortable. Another benefit is having the chance to raise your family in a smaller community, where you know your neighbors and the parents of your childrens’ friends.

Bar Associations are fabulous resources for job postings in many areas, particularly in larger cites. Most are organized based upon the county or city in which they are located, so you can find them online through a simple search using the county or city name and the words “bar association.” For example, if you are interested in the Jacksonville and Florida markets, check out the Jacksonville Bar site here. On the left side of the home page, you will find the “Job Target” tab which will take you to the Career Center. From there you enter a keyword for your desired practice area and you will be taken to jobs in Florida and beyond.

To start your search for bar associations in your target area, make a list of the counties and cities in the region in which you are interested, and search for each of their websites. Then peruse any job postings, which may be listed under classifieds or careers. If you don’t see any, pick up the phone and call the bar association to ask them how most legal employers in the area advertise positions.

If you are interested in the Atlanta, D.C., Orlando, or Miami markets, you are invited to attend the networking receptions sponsored by the Career Services Department in each location. Email careerservices@fcsl.edu to R.S.V.P. for any event or to schedule an appointment with a counselor to discuss your preparation and follow-up. This is a great opportunity to develop relationships with local attorneys!

The Atlanta Networking Club’s reception with the Atlanta Bar Association will be Thursday, May 17th from 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Rooftop 866 at the Midtown Renaissance Hotel located at 866 West Peachtree Street Northwest, Atlanta, Georgia 30308. All students are welcome to attend the reception regardless of whether they are members of the Networking Club. There is no fee for students for the event since it is being sponsored by Florida Coastal. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Atlanta legal community and to develop contacts there. Follow this link to a map with directions to Rooftop 866: http://www.rooftop866.com/atlanta-midtown-bar-and-lounge/rooftop-866-directions-2.html

A local solo practitioner is seeking a 2L, 3L, or graduate to assist in her family law practice. This part-time internship position is unpaid, but offers a wonderful opportunity for legal experience. The clerk may even work remotely when conducting research or drafting documents, but is welcome to accompany the practitioner to court or in client meetings. The required qualifications are an interest in family law and good grades in LP/research and writing courses. To apply, log into Symplicity and submit your application under the OCI tab. Remember to update your status in Symplicity since the OCI will only be visible to those registered as a 2L, 3L, or graduate. The deadline is Friday, May 4th. If you need assistance in completing your application materials, email careerservices@fcsl.edu to schedule an appointment with a counselor.�